Former Scotland rugby union and league international Jon Steel is hoping to enjoy a happy homecoming when he returns to boyhood club Middlesbrough with Hullensians on Saturday.

The 36-year-old came through the ranks at Boro under revered late junior coach Rod Young and credits the schooling he received at Acklam Park for paving the way for his illustrious professional career.

Winger Steel represented Scotland through his father James’ family connections and won five senior and 10 ‘A’ caps in the 15-man code.

He was given the daunting job of playing opposite All Blacks great Jonah Lomu in an Autumn Test against New Zealand at Murrayfield aged just 21, and played in the World Sevens Series.

His club path took him from Northampton Saints to Glasgow Caledonians and Warriors and then on to Borders before he crossed codes to join Hull Kingston Rovers in 2005 and helped the club win promotion to the Super League.

That journey also included an opening try for Scotland against Fiji in their historic first win at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup in Australia before he wound down his pro career with Featherstone Rovers.

And the Middlesbrough-born back says none of it would have been possible without the techniques and values he learned at Boro, who he will play against with Yorkshire One outfit Hullensians in a cup game this weekend.

“I was very fortunate to get a long professional career out of rugby and sometimes I look back and wonder if it all really happened, it’s a bit of a blur,” Steel said.

“But some of my happiest rugby memories are from playing at Middlesbrough as a junior and I’m looking forward to going back there and catching up with people in what’s an important cup game for both clubs.

“Middlesbrough is pretty much where I learned all of the key values of friendship and teamwork, and it gave me all the skills required and the grounding to go on and have a professional career.

“Rod Young was such an influential coach when I was at Middlesbrough and he had such an influence on the core of young players we had, in more ways than one.

“We went dozens of games unbeaten and won the Yorkshire Cup, with a good junior team with players in it like Ben Snook and David Richardson.

“I’ve been trying to rile our lads up to say I’m going back to my old club and not to let me down.

“It’s going to be nice to go back to Boro and see as many familiar faces as possible, but it would be equally nice to get a win as well.

“And if I can cross the whitewash, all the better.”

Now working as a sports coach in schools in the Hull area, Steel retired from professional rugby when he was “31 or 32” - “I’d had a few injuries and lost a yard of pace.”

But he still enjoys playing the game in his spare time and will never forget the day when he was tasked with trying to shackle man mountain Lomu during Scotland’s 37-6 defeat to New Zealand, or the time when he helped Hull KR win promotion.

“Jonah Lomu was an absolute animal, a legend. I managed to keep him out for 78 minutes, but he took an offload from Richie McCaw and scored from about a yard out late in the game,” he recalled.

“Nobody was going to stop him from there. I came off nursing a sore shoulder, but that was probably to be expected because he was such a handful.

“Winning promotion to the Super League with Hull KR is another highlight, even though I broke my leg when I was playing for them.

“League is such a big deal in the city, and there is a big east-west divide with the two clubs.

“Rugby is still something that I do for fun, and it’s nice to play it now without that pressure that you have in the professional game.”

Elsewhere on Saturday and Redcar play a rearranged game in Durham and North Two at Winlaton Vulcans with an almost full-strength team.

The substitutes’ bench is also strengthened by the return of last season’s captain Steve Johnson and top scorer Danny Addison.

Other games see second-bottom Guisborough tackle Huddersfield YMCA in North One East, while Yarm are at Prudhoe &amp; Stocksfield in Durham &amp; Northumberland Three.